LOS ANGELES — It may be known as Republicans,Liberals,Barack Obama,Hugh Hewitt:41686752:41686752:Hugh Hewitt, but this year, the two characters on everyone’s lips were “3D.”
The Cannes of video games, for 15 years, the Electronic Entertainment Expo has been the world’s biggest stage for game creators to reveal and show off the titles people can play over the next year and beyond. This year, above all the announcements of big-name sequels, two themes dominated the show: gaming in three dimensions, and the way we’ll control the games of the future.
THE 3-D REVOLUTION
At Sony’s press conference Tuesday, the PlayStation maker announced it will be releasing a downloadable system update that will add 3-D effects to games like the highly anticipated first-person shooter “Killzone 3,” whose snowflakes (and explosions) promise to look glorious in 3-D. That is, if you shell out megabucks for a 3-D-capable TV such as the Sony Bravia — how convenient — and are willing to wear those stupid glasses.
Impressive as Sony’s 3-D offerings were, the talk of the convention was Nintendo’s newly unveiled 3DS. Boasting a more powerful processor than what’s inside the current lineup of the phenomenally popular DS hand-held gaming systems, the 3DS will also sport a 3.5-inch-wide screen (everything’s relative) on top, which uses an emerging technology to offer autostereoscopic visuals. That is, 3-D without glasses. Sounds impossible, but models on the show floor proved it not only works, it works great. For gadget geeks, the 3DS will even sport two side-by-side cameras on its exterior so you can take 3-D pictures. Sweet.
Of course, every technical marvel is only as good as its applications, and, to the happy tears of retro gamers everywhere, Nintendo announced it’s bringing back one of its most beloved characters, the flying cherub Pit, for “Kid Icarus: Uprising,” which will release alongside the 3Ds in this holiday season or spring 2011.
LOOK, MA, NO CONTROLLER!
Microsoft devoted its press conference to revealing Kinect, which sounds like another one of those social networking sites for cousins but is actually the Xbox 360 maker’s vision of the future of controllers — which, in fact, is no controller at all. Previously known as “Project Natal,” Kinect is a camera and microphone array that sits next to your TV, like Wall-E is watching you play games. This device not only tracks your body movements, but recognizes your face and voice, allowing you to control games in ways that have nothing to do with a hunk of plastic in your hand.
Kinect will hit stores Nov. 4 with an impressive controller-free lineup. First is “Wii Sports,” I mean, “Kinect Sports,” which tracks your motions for realistic boxing, soccer, volleyball and more. Then there’s “Kinect Joyride,” in which you steer karts just by tilting your hands in the air. And since Microsoft already brought us “Halo: Combat Evolved,” it makes sense for the company to bring us “Your Shape: Fitness Evolved,” a Balance Board-less exercise game from Ubisoft.
Less bold, but perhaps more promising, is Sony’s foray into the world of motion controls, the PlayStation Move. The Move controller is nearly identical to the Wii Remote, except for a glowing orb on top. The orb exists (and glows) so it can be tracked by a camera that sits next to your TV, Kinect-style, improving on the Wii Remote in that it not only detects motion, but can track your position in 3-D space. Move may fill an important void. Impressive as Kinect is, it’s hard to imagine certain games, like shooters, working without triggers. Sometimes you just gotta have buttons.
Not to be left out of the sports-compilation club, Sony will be releasing Move with “Sports Champions,” which includes volleyball, archery and more, for $99.99 on Sept. 19.
And the guys who started the whole motion-control craze, Nintendo, unveiled the next game in the “Zelda” series, which will be called “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.” This time around, not only will Nintendo take advantage of its MotionPlus controller to deliver amazing sword fighting, Link will have a whip you can snap with a flick of your wrist.
JUST ONE MORE THING …
In the manner of Apple impresario Steve Jobs, the Big Three console makers love to end their Republicans,Liberals,Barack Obama,Hugh Hewitt:41686752:41686752:Hugh Hewitt press conferences with left-field announcements they hope no one saw coming. 2010 was no different, with Sony biding its time before pulling back the curtain on a new installment of the beloved vehicular combat series “Twisted Metal,” this time around with massive online matches, and helicopters joining the “Mad Max”-inspired creations on the ground.
At the end of its media event, Microsoft suddenly announced a slimmer, WiFi-enabled Xbox 360. The unit was unveiled Monday, and will be shipped to stores, um, now. You can pick one up today for the same price as the old one, $299.
Ever the splash makers, Nintendo finished the festivities with two surprises that are sure to please fans of the old developer Rare: Sometime this holiday season, the Wii will be graced with “Donkey Kong County Returns” and, in a truly unexpected turn, an update of multiplayer-gaming king “GoldenEye 007.”
